Black Moon
by Seraphim.Saga
Summary: Shepard has been revived but Project Lazarus hid a secret. Blood is the currency of life and Shepard is going to collect. Vampire story, rating is for blood and things. There are no sparkly vampires in here.
1. Chapter 1

**Black Moon  
**

Chapter 1

Shepard awoke with a twitch, just enough to jolt her consciousness back into gear. At first there was nothing, no pain and no discomfort. Then it all came back to her. The _Normandy_ , the attack by an unknown enemy and finally, getting spaced. Her last thought had been on the destroyed wreck of the ship that had become her home. One that she cared for anyway.

Looking around she could see that she had awoken in what appeared to be a medical operating room. This didn't shock her, being alive did. What the hell had happened? She tried to move but was hampered by the fact that she was tied down with restraints.

"Warning, base is under attack. all personnel are to report to their assigned stations. This is not a training exercise. the base is under attack."

That warning snapped Shepard back to reality and she deftly slipped her hands thru the bonds and unlocked the bands on her feet. The restraints weren't there to lock her down, this was a medical facility and so they were there to stop her from rolling off of the table.

She stopped by a mirror in the room and looked at herself. Scars crisscrossed her entire body and some of them even glowed red. What had happened to her?

Gunshots outside made her crouch down and seek cover by the locker in the room. Hoping to find some clothes she opened the door to it. There was none and she settled for wrapping the bedsheets around her like a toga.

More gun fire outside the door made her push herself against the wall next to the door. It opened only a few seconds later to reveal a Cerberus soldier with a pistol in his hands. He was shooting at something and was too focused on the task at hand to even notice Shepard.

'A Cerberus soldier here? are they the ones attacking or are they defending?' Shepard's thoughts were interrupted by the multiple rounds that suddenly connected with the soldier and he died. Bending down she picked up the gun, a simple but reliable M3. It would do for now though without armor Shepard didn't like her odds. Not. One. Bit.

Woke up after dying in space.

Unknown facility and unknown cybernetics in her body.

Cerberus soldiers are present.

One gun and no armor.

No, Shepard didn't like her odds at all. First things first, get out of the room and find another hiding spot. Someone knew that she had been in that room and She was going to make sure that they didn't find her there once they went looking for her.

Out side in the corridor Shepard spotted several LOKI mechs. Had she been wearing her armor they wouldn't be a problem, but she wasn't and so she slipped around the corner undetected and ran for it.

Several mechs presented themselves but didn't last long as Shepard made maximum use of cover. There were two things she learned by running thru the labs and that was that she was on a Cerberus owned space station and the attackers made no distinction between friend and foe.

Several Cerberus soldiers fought with the mechs and the mechs took potshots at her when they could. Either something had shorted out inside the mechs or someone had hacked them. Either way She didn't want anyone to notice her.

There was a large explosion and shouts further down the corridor and around the bend. When Shepard carefully rounded the corner she was greeted by the sight of carnage.

The area had been fortified and defended by several soldiers. A large, massive vault door dominated the wall and the floor was littered by dead Cerberus soldiers. Two LOKI mechs remained with one missing both arms. They were opening the vault.

The moment the door opened Shepard moved. Her gun fired rapidly and she downed the armed mech before it could even turn. The unarmed one charged her but was dispatched when she slammed the gun into it's head.

Beyond the vault door was a simple storage facility. It was empty, but there was one more door straight ahead. Pushing them open revealed nothing but a large box in the center. Wondering what it was Shepard moved up to it and pushed the lid off.

There was a horribly twisted and mauled body in there. As Shepard bent down to study the corpse she failed to notice the group of soldiers marching into the vault. She did however notice when several gunshots pierced her chest, sending her tumbling over the casket and onto the floor.

Determined not to go out without a fight she pointed her gun over the edge and fired.

"Fuck, she's armed" one of them yelled and the group sought cover by the doors.

"Who the fuck is the chick?"

"No armor, think thats the hacker?"

"Must be, but how in the fuck did she even get here?"

"We haven't had a supply drop in a month, And now there's an unknown chick with a gun."

As Shepard listened to the rapid talk of the soldiers another noise made her freeze. Something inside the casket was moving. Something that was dead moments ago.

In a fluid motion, the dead body jumped out and rushed the four Cerberus soldiers. Two of them died as the corpse tore into the weaker armor on their throats and killed them.

Several seconds of quiet made Shepard peek around the corner. The mangled corpse seemed to regard the two remaining ones with curiosity. When the leveled their guns on it Shepard took her chance and fired. The copse was peppered with rounds but as they were screaming bloody murder and focused solely on the corpse Shepard could easily dispatch them.

The corpse now turned it's attention to Shepard and again remained motionless as it observed her. Mostly the massive bloodstain on her chest. It took a step forward and picked up the dead soldiers.

As Shepard observed, the corpse sank some viciously sharp fangs into their throats and drank their blood. she was going to ask what the hell was going on but the adrenalin finally drained from her and Shepard slowly collapsed against the coffin.

The mangled corpse kept it's gaze firmly on the last survivor. The woman had aided it by dealing with the annoying soldiers and was now bleeding out on the floor. Once the body was drained it walked up to the woman and bent down.

"Do you desire aid" It's voice was as mangled as it's body was, and Shepard had a difficult time understanding it. The thing had a very distinct London accent to it.

"Yes." Shepard just barely managed to croak out as she was rapidly loosing consciousness.

The thing bent down and bit into her throat before draining some blood. Next it bit into it's own arm and forced the bleeding appendage into Shepard's mouth.

The blood had a nearly electrical taste to it and she could feel strength returning. That was when Shepard realized that she was drinking the blood of a vampire. A Night Walker, Blood Demon, the undead.

She quickly pushed the arm away in disgust and spat some blood out.

"Look at your wounds," the creature spoke. This time it's voice was much more clear, as if the damages to it's throat had healed. It probably had.

Looking at herself Shepard could see that the wounds were closing up. In fact they were closing so fast that she could see it.

"What did you do to me?" she asked in outrage.

"I gave you a new lease on life" The vampire replied.

"You turned me into one of the living dead!" Shepard yelled.

At this, the vampire frowned. "That is a myth, made popular by Stoker's book. Vampirism is a very specialized blood disease. The undead thing came from our extremely slow heart rate." The vampire replied with a sense of indignation.

Shepard listened and for several seconds did nothing other than stare at the slowly healing face of the vampire. By now she could tell that it was female and had dark red eyes that seamed to glow with bioluminescent light. They were actually rather beautiful now that they were close enough to see properly.

A blood disease? That made far too much sense. could it really be that simple? More gunfire echoed through the vault door and Shepard decided that being caught inside was a bad idea. She needed to figure out what was happening and then decide what to do.

The human guards were enemies and so were the mechs. They stumbled out from the room and slowly walked past several dead civilians. Every time they did, the vampire would stop and drain the blood from them. the more blood the vampire consumed the faster her regeneration jumped forward. As skin started to form Shepard grabbed a lab coat and gave it to the vampire.

Most of her body had regrown and now that skin was forming Shepard could see that the vampire was starting to get uncomfortable with being completely naked.

"My name is Shepard"

"Wilhelmina, a pleasure."

* * *

 **I like vampires!**

They are awesome and deserve to be treated better than they mostly are. In this story they do not have any 'mystical' powers. Mass Effect is a science fiction tale and therefore vampirism should be treated the same.

Making it a transferable blood disease makes logical sense from a scientific standpoint. I'll explain the whole 'drink blood' thing later once Shepard starts to research what it means for her. ('Research' on the Normandy. This is ME2 and that was a pretty big thing in that game. Physical upgrades will instead be; understanding vampirism.)

I have taken the liberty of drawing on several various sources as references for the vampires in this story including; Bram Stoker (The basic Wilhelmina 'Mina' Harker), Hellsing, Carmilla and several other stories. There will be no supernatural abilities in this story.

I have a rather unique idea for the danger the Reapers represent. What I have in mind for this story I haven't seen in any other story so far, but I haven't read them all either so I can't be sure.

I'll get to writing on my other stories when inspiration kicks me in the butt. Right now this one just won't leave me alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Black Moon  
**

Chapter 2

A dark skinned man in black armor rounded a corner and came face to face with two limping women in white clothing, he was just about to tell them to evacuate when he recognized one of them.

"Shepard, I finally found you. We were afraid that they had already gotten to you. You weren't in your room."

Shepard didn't lower her gun as she could see the Cerberus logo on his armor.

"What the hell does Cerberus want with me?"

The man shook his head. "I don't know, I'm just a guard for the Lazarus Cell. Our base has been compromised and most of the security mechs have turned on us."

Finally lowering her gun Shepard hobbled over to him. "You have a traitor among your ranks, someone with access and clearance to the security room."

He shook his head. "The security room is a pile of rubble. The ones who did it hid their identity by placing explosives behind." He sighed and shook his head again. "Anyway, I'm Jacob." He looked over at the female with Shepard. He didn't know her but her lack of pants made him assume that she had been in the locker room when the attack occurred.

"My name is Wilhelmina," she said Jacob nodded and turned around.

"I'm surprised that you can even walk Shepard. I was told that Project Lazarus was many months from completion."

The small group made their way slowly past the mechs and arrived at the escape pods. A woman in 'painted on' clothes came running from another corridor. "Get in the escape pod NOW." She yelled and the group made their way into the pod swiftly.

Wilhelmina sat down in an empty chair with Shepard by her side and the two Cerberus operatives opposite them. She did her best to cover herself up with the lab coat and Jacob purposefully kept his eyes away. The same couldn't be said for the last woman to join them.

"Where are your clothes?" she asked. making Wilhelmina blush in embarrassment of her lack of clothing.

"I was never given the chance to properly dress." Her blush actually deepened.

The woman pulled her gun out and pointed it at Wilhelmina.

"What the hell are you doing Miranda?" Jacob shouted.

"She's not one of ours, I personally oversaw all personnel and I don't remember you." Jacob now gripped his assault rifle but he didn't raise it. If there was any shots fired inside the shuttle then they would all die as no one had a pressure suit on.

"You should know who she is." Shepard stated matter-of-factly. "She was locked up in that big vault I passed by whilst making my way out of there."

"The vault?" Miranda asked. "It only contained a box we received from The Illusive Man a year ago. We were told not to open it."

Shepard shook her head, causing her shoulder length red hair to sway. "The mechs seemed determined to get at the contents of that box. I destroyed them and opened it myself. She was inside. I gave her a lab coat from a dead scientist and then we met Jacob. After that we got here. End of story."

Shepard leaned back and sighed. "Now I want to know what happened to me. Last I remember was getting spaced and dying. Then I wake up to a Cerberus facility under attack."

Miranda lowered her gun and regarded the mystery woman with interest. The Illusive Man never got around to telling her what was in there and most of her time had been focused on bringing Shepard back to life. "I think you should talk to The Illusive Man yourself, he might explain more that I could. The short of it is that we were ordered to revive you no matter what and Cerberus spent billions researching methods of doing just that. Last year we made a breakthrough and your cells finally regenerated."

As Miranda said that Shepard's eyes glanced ever so lightly in Wilhelmina's direction before looking forward again. If Cerberus got their hands on the vampire serum... She didn't think that the galaxy could handle a terrorist group of nearly immortal vampires.

The shuttle shook gently as they set down on the space station where Shepard was to meet with TIM. She didn't know his name and 'The Illusive Man' was an obnoxious mouthful to say.

Armed guards lead both Shepard and the vampire down a set of stairs and into a dark room.

"Stand still please," a disembodied voice called as light floated over their bodies. "Much better." the voice stated as the darkness gave way to a expansive room lit by a massive panorama view of a red sun. The only feature in the room was a desk with a man hidden in darkness sitting in a chair behind it.

"I am The Illusive Man..." he began before Shepard interrupted him

"Unless you give me a name I'll just call you TIM." She was in no mood for playing nice. Least of all with Cerberus. Kahoku's death was still fresh in her mind.

"Fair enough," TIM replied, "I'll cut to the chase then. Humanity lost some of it's glory when you died, Shepard. Something irreplaceable was lost with the Normandy and the Citadel Council has labeled your warnings about the Reapers as nothing more than the ravings of a warmongering human that should never have been made a Spectre."

His words cut deep. In the months after the attack on the citadel she had been all but ostracized by them, being sent on patrol missions in the middle of nowhere. It seemed as if the council just wanted her to disappear. If they had covered up by lying about the Reaper then that meant that no one had prepared for the coming storm.

"Do you believe me?"

"Enough to spend billions of credits to bring you back to life. Speaking of that, Welcome Wilhelmina Harker. I assume that the future has you wondering about many things?"

The vampire stepped forward. It was true that she didn't understand everything that was going on but at least she knew enough to put her faith in science. She had the good professor Van Helsing to thank for that.

"I only have a few questions. First, what year is it now. And second, how did I end up in your possession?"

TIM took a long excessive drag of his cigar before he answered. "The year is 2185." He made a pause, expecting the vampire to react but she only nodded. "The story of how we got a hold of you is long and arduous. I'll say this though; You didn't look that good when we received you. Would you like to share the secret to your eternal life?"

Shepard raised an eyebrow at that. If they had the vampire in their custody for some time, then why didn't they have an army of vampires by now.

"My secrets are my own."

"We tried your blood on some test subjects. They all died within seconds, yet you live Why is that? No matter, I leave the uncovering of the gift of eternal life to my scientists. Shepard," he said and focused his gaze on her.

"There are new problems to solve, several colonies have vanished. No survivors, no warnings, no nothing. It's like the entire colony just got up and left. First I need you to go to the colony named Freedom's Progress. It was attacked by an unknown force. There was no emergency beacon nor any other attempt at calling for help. It's a perfect match for our unknown enemy. I want you to get there first and find out what happened before the Alliance can stomp all over the evidence." He tapped the desk to bring up a folder on the colony.

"Equip yourself and get on that shuttle soon. Time is against us and I don't like it." With those parting words the hologram shut down, plunging the room in darkness. Not that it bothered either of the two. The vampire had natural night vision and Shepard's augmentation let her see in the dark.

After getting some armor, with Shepard equipping her own N7 armor (how they managed to get her personal armor was beyond her) and Wilhelmina getting a similar setup but changing the head piece for a recon hood, they climbed back into the shuttle, heading for the colony.

Once more the four of them was confined inside a small compartment and Miranda was determined to get some answers. "Where are you from, Wilhelmina?"

"London, and before you ask; no I do not know of a reason for my kidnapping and subsequent incarceration inside that sarcophagus." She shook her head. "I was a teacher, I had neither wealth nor power, though I was friends with those who had."

"Hmm," Jacob cut in. "Perhaps a mercenary group captured you hoping to ransom you to your friends? It wouldn't be the first time The Illus... TIM intercepted a kidnapping. He could have held you as an incentive to get more mercenary groups to work for him."

Miranda leaned forward, steepling her fingers. "That does make sense. He has been known to aid those who need it, Tell me Wilhelmina... Mind if I call you Mina instead? It's easier... Do you have family somewhere?"

She shook her head. "My friends called me Mina, and no I do not have family. My parents are dead and I was the only child. Maybe there are some very distant relatives but I have never met them if so."

"That could be the reason why he didn't send you back. Without family to help you The Illusive Man probably felt that you were safer in cryo. I'd like to assess your combat capability during these missions. That'll help me create a dossier for you. I already have one for Shepard." Miranda leaned back and opened her omni-tool.

Mina looked over at Shepard before answering. "I hope I wont disappoint."

Freedom's Progress was a small backwater colony. Not large enough to warrant proper military defenses but big enough to have a small contingency of marines. None of those were present now. The entire area had a distinct 'ghost town' feel to it.

"We should look for survivors first. Maybe we will get lucky." Shepard was determined to do the right thing regardless of who she was currently working with.

"Split into teams. Mina, you're with me. Jacob and Shepard, you'll be team two." Miranda then left to the south, leaving the north to Shepard.

"You heard the bossy lady." She said and pulled out the gun. Together the two combed the houses looking for clues. For a while everything was quiet until some LOKI mechs rounded a corner. Jacob hit the closest one with a throw and Shepard used her M3.

Two more emerged and something told her that these mechs were using non standard programming. Usually, the mechs would converge on enemies, drawing fire to them and allowing others uninterrupted shooting.

These mechs took cover and covered each other. Highly suspicious.

Finally getting bored of the annoying pests Shepard ordered Jacob to hit the cover with a throw. The now exposed mechs did not last long, their shields just weren't strong enough.

"Shepard, it's Miranda. We've encountered FENRIS mechs. Be on your guard."

"We met some LOKIs. They're not using standard programming. Be careful you two." She mostly meant that to Mina. She would hate to fully turn into a vampire without a mentor nearby to ask questions. Though she had to admit that treating it as a rare blood disease did make more sense than equating it to some mystical origin.

Moving through the colony was slow and they were constantly hampered by the presence of LOKI and FENRIS mechs. Neither lasted long as Jacobs biotics and Shepard's sharpshooting dealt with the threats.

"Shepard, we're not alone here." Miranda's voice quietly echoed over the comm line. "I can see the remains of a recent fight, must have happened ten minutes ago."

Well now, that was interesting news. The mechs might have been deployed to repel a second attack, but from who? Shaking her head to clear her mind she opened the door in front of her and stepped out.

* * *

 **A/N**

Neither Miranda nor Jacob knows about the vampire thing.

I'll somewhat follow the game but not too close. I'll just do what I think is right.

See you next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Black Moon  
**

Chapter 3

A group of quarians were standing around a table and were in the middle of a discussion when Shepard entered. One of them began to raise his rifle but was stopped by another one.

"NO! There will be no fighting." The quarian then turned to face the two and froze. "Shepard?"

"Tali?" Shepard was glad to meet a friendly face.

"CERBERUS!" Another one called and this time the guns were raised.

"Prazza, I'm in charge here not you. Weapons down." Tali stepped in front of her group.

Shepard and Jacob holstered their guns just as Miranda and Mina walked in to the same room. With her mask on it was hard to tell what Mina thought about the aliens but she walked up and stood next to Shepard.

"Tali, why is your old commander working for Cerberus?" Prazza asked.

"I don't work for them!" Shepard countered. "Something made the colonists vanish and I'm here looking for clues."

Miranda stepped up to Shepard and said; "No sign of fighting, no structural damage. What ever happened here was either peaceful or so fast that no one managed to fight back. The mechs out there have been activated after the fact. There is someone here who did it and I'd like to know who."

She looked at the four quarians before asking a rather pointed question.

"What are you doing here on a depopulated human colony?"

"We don't answer to Cerberus!" one of them stated before moving to flank the humans.

"Cerberus is a human organization and as such it is fully within our rights to investigate the lost colony. Now tell me why you are here, your reluctance to cooperate is making you very suspicious in Cerberus eyes."

"Miranda," Shepard began, "I don't like to suspect my friends so neither should you." Satisfied that Miranda was going to be quiet she addressed the quarians. "Tali, what business does the flotilla have with a human colony?" Even if she didn't like to admit it, the quarians presence was a legitimately suspicious thing.

Tali walked back to the table before encircling a building on the map. "One of our own was here on his pilgrimage. His name is Veetor. He saw us land and we believe that he's the one who programmed the security mechs to attack everyone. They've been keeping us pinned down here and we can't proceed to the security station." She pointed at the building on the map.

"It's located here at the loading dock, but there are too many mechs in the was. Now that we have some backup, I believe that we can win."

Jacob decided to add his thoughts to the conversation. "What could hold back a squad of quarian marines? Must be some heavy defense."

"They have a YMIR mech and it's supported by more of those drones and some LOKI and FENRIS mechs as well." Tali stated off handedly.

"Where did a small colony like this get the funds for one of those behemoths?" Shepard said before cutting herself off. "Doesn't matter. There are eight of us here. We split into four teams and go."

The quarians didn't argue and Tali went with Prazza. The other two went to find higher ground and lend sniper support. Jacob and Miranda flanked left, leaving Shepard and Mina to go straight ahead.

They stealthily made their way forward, finding themselves facing the cargo bay of the colony. "Team two in position." She quietly said.

"This is team three. In position." The sniper team said.

"This is team four. We are ready." Miranda said. "team one had to take the long way around in order to get in to position."

Sitting down Shepard shut down the mic so she could talk to Mina in private. "How old are you Mina?" Shepard was interested in learning as much as she could.

With a heavy sigh, Mina leaned against the wall and slowly slid down into a sitting position. "I was born 1877. The fifth of May to be precise. The seventh of October 1910 was the last time I saw dawn."

There was something sorrowful in the way she spoke of these dates. "Was that the day you became a vampire?" Shepard asked, worried that she might have to avoid day-light from now on.

"Fear of the light was a problem that Vlad suffered from. He hated the church and all it stood for with a passion. A real vampire has no fear of religious symbols. Nor do we suffer from daylight. We do however suffer extreme allergic reactions to silver. Something about our blood that makes silver acidic to the touch."

She pulled the hood off and took a deep breath. "In 1910 I was betrayed and some of Van Helsing's aides decided that it would be for the best if I died. The ran me through with a stake before shoving me into that silver coffin that you found me in." She shook her head and took another deep breath. "To think that I would ever breathe air not of our earth."

She laughed quietly before continuing. "I wasn't aware of anything until you opened the lid. I was so hungry..."

Mina looked at Shepard. "And there you were, bleeding out before my eyes after helping me deal with those guards. You were not an enemy and so I gave you the same gift that was forced unto me."

Closing her eyes Shepard sighed deeply. "Did you ever read Stokers book?"

Mina just laughed. "He was one of Van Helsing's aides at the time. The book was a fictionalized retelling of the real events."

This got Shepard's attention. What really happened then?"

"We are ready. Team one is in position." came over the radio before Mina could say anything. Instead she merely pulled on her hood and Shepard reactivated the mic.

"All teams are ready. BEGIN." She yelled her order and moved forward.

At once the previously so tranquil loading bay buzzed with activity. Drones began firing at something neither of them could see but never the less it worked as a distraction. Shepard moved forward followed by Mina who still didn't make a sound as she walked across the metal plating.

'I really need to learn how to do that' Shepard thought and together they joined the fight. The tactic seemed to work until the YMIR walked into the loading bay area. It fired several rockets at the snipers who jumped away and abandoned their over watch position.

"We lost our high ground." They yelled over the radio. "We'll join you as soon as we can."

Miranda suddenly jumped behind the same cover as Shepard. "It's tearing our plans apart." she said.

"That things got heavy armor plating. Unless someone brought a rocket launcher I don't think that we'll even be able to damage it." Jacob's voice came over the radio.

At that point the two snipers ran into the loading bay area right in front of the mech. It's heavy machine gun tore the first one to shreds before stomping on the last one. A distinctly female voice screamed over the radio and a soft whimper followed as it pressed the muzzle against the face plate. The line went silent when it fired.

"NO! My team, I'll kill you for that Prazza yelled as he fired relentlessly on the large mech. A rocket sent him flying into a wall where he became still.

Shepard banged her head against the crate she used for cover. "Tali, can you hack it?"

"Negative Shepard. It's not using a standard OS and it's been hack proofed anyway." Tali's answer didn't make her nearly as hopeful as she had hoped.

Her eyes shifted over between the far side where Tali was and the east where Jacob and Miranda had taken cover. Then her eyes stopped on Mina and a thought occurred to her. On the private line she asked the vampire if enhanced strength was a part of the vampire condition.

"Yes, I am most likely 20 times as strong as a normal human." Mina replied.

Thinking quickly Shepard made a daring plan. "Tali, Miranda, Jacob. Draw it's attention, Mina and I will take it out once it's looking the other way."

There was a slight hint of red in her eyes as the two rounded the corner and began to run towards the distracted killing machine. Miranda stared dumbfounded as the two jumped on to the mech and literally tore it limb from limb. Somethings were hard to believe, and watching two humans destroy a heavy mech with their hands was one of those.

She knew that Shepard had received cybernetic bone and muscle weave upgrades, but none of them should have been unlocked yet. Even with those she was fairly certain that Shepard shouldn't have been that strong. Miranda watched the two of them rip apart reinforced armor plates like it was made of paper. That was without mentioning the phenomenal run speed they had shown.

Had they given her biotics as a part of the reconstruction process? No, there was a distinct lack of the telltale mass effect field that always enveloped the user. Shepard turned to face her and for a fleeting moment Miranda was sure that Shepard's eyes had a red glow to them. Then the moment passed and the group gathered in the center.

"I'll tend to Prazza. This is your chance to find Veetor." Tali said as she couched next to the wounded quarian.

Nodding at her team Shepard began to search the buildings at the loading bay. When she passed by the remains of the mech she impulsively scanned it. This Veetor person had made some sort of upgrade for the heavy weapon on the mech. The technology could come in handy later so she kept it.

"Shepard, this door is locked." Jacob said when he was standing by a small shack at the very back.

After realizing that the door panel had been damaged in the fight she could only see one solution. "Mina, open the door for me please." She would have done it herself but ripping the mech apart had seriously drained her strength.

The vampire just grabbed the door and tore it off with ease, making both Jacob and Miranda regard her with suspicion. The horrible screeching noise made the quarian inside turn around.

"Humans? They didn't find you? The Seeker Swarms find everyone. No one escapes the swarms."

"Great, we come all the way out here only to find a babbling idiot." Shepard ignored Miranda's scathing remark and instead focused on the security screens.

"He must have made his own security system here. What ever method was used to shut everything down didn't affect his system." Jacob remarked.

"My system secure. No interference from 'them'. I see everything, the swarms, they will come back for me." As Veetor babbled on about 'seekers' here and 'them' there, Shepard focused on copying everything from the hard drives. What ever system had been used to shut everything down, his was safe and that was something of great value. She'd pass that data on to the Alliance once she got a chance.

At this point Tali walked into the room. "We got what we came here for, Tali." Shepard said. "It was the Collectors."

"Bosh'tet. First they blow the Normandy out of the sky and now they start attacking colonies. What next?"

"I don't know Tali, but for now I think that you should study the security readings. I got all sorts of data about electro magnetism and dark matter. Maybe you'll make some sense out of it. Bring it back to the Flotilla and have them protect their systems."

Walking up to the screens Tali nodded once she saw the collectors marching by. "Veetor is traumatized and needs medical aid. I'll take him back to the Flotilla."

"We should not..." Miranda never finished as Shepard grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up with one hand.

"Veetor will go back to the flotilla! We have the data we need. Our mission here is done. Tali I could really use someone I can trust for my mission."

"Sorry Shepard, but I have my own mission to complete. I can't abandon it, not even for you."

Nodding in understanding Shepard let go of the Cerberus operative.

"Miranda, you really need to learn not to question my orders." Shepard was not happy to be questioned about her decisions. She was in command, not anyone else.

Miranda was still rubbing her neck once the shuttle returned to the space station. As before, Shepard headed down to the hologram chamber to give her report. At least Cerberus had some semblance of a real military unit. She wasn't sure if she could have taken a civilian organization and it's endless red tape policies.

Once the hologram had finished building up the scene the report began.

"Good work on the colony. Now we have actual proof that the Collectors are responsible. until now we've had no real proof of direct aggression." TIM seemed rather pleased with the outcome. "The collectors live beyond the Omega 4 relay. It's unmapped so we don't know what's on the other side. My best men have tried to come up with a reason for why no other ships ever return from there. They think that it's because the relay reacts differently to collector ships."

He took a swipe from a whiskey glass and continued. "If it is true then it's further evidence of their reaper connection. The collectors sometimes makes an appearance now and then, paying exorbitant sums for species with rare genetic diseases. They've never focused on only one species before, and never in these numbers. It used to be a few dozen not tens of thousands."

"Why would they focus on humanity?" Shepard had a hunch why and she didn't like it.

"You killed a reaper! I'd say that should do it."

"Damn it." Shepard swore. This was not news she needed.

TIM wasn't done just yet. "I read Miranda's mission report. Your cybernetic implants are working better than expected. Much better. Is there something you would like to share?"

Shepard just shook her head. "Nothing right now sir."

TIM took a drag from his cigarette and swiveled his chair around. "I have a few surprises for you but everything isn't ready yet. Take a few days to rest and read up on the last two years. It would help if you are up to date on the general state of the galaxy. I'll call you when everything is ready." with that the chamber was silent.

* * *

 **A/N**

I never liked Miranda, she was WAY to loyal to good old _TIMmy_ and her superior attitude grated on my nerves. She was the only one whose death didn't matter to me in the third game. It's the same reason why I shoot Ashley. My Kaidan always died on Virmire.

My Shepard isn't going to take any lip from any 'entitled' Cerberus personnel.

See you next chapter.


End file.
